Beekeeping in the TropicsBeekeeping in the TropicsDr. Peter RosenkranzUniversity of HohenheimApicultural State Institutepeter.rosenkranz@uni-hohenheim.dewww.uni-hohenheim.de/bienenkunde

Content

1. What are Bees?2. Social Evolution in “Bees”: From Solitary to Eusociality3. Economic value of bees 4. Pollination/ use of “non-Apis” bees5. Honey bee species of economic importance 6. Specific traits of tropical honey bees7. Honey hunting8. Requirements for advanced Beekeeping Techniques9. Specific problems of tropical beekeeping

• The Cape bee problem in South Africa• Plant protection• Honey bee diseases

10. Economic aspects• Honey quality• Marketing• Rural development

Systematic of Bees

Class InsectaOrder Hymenoptera AculeataFamily Apidae

Stingless bees (Melipona spec.)Bumble bees (Bombus spec.)Honey bees (Apis spec.)

Worldwide about 25.000 Bee speciesIn Germany about 600 Bee species (most of them solitary)In Brazil about 3.000 Bee species! Tropics: higher biodiversity

Biologie der Honigbienen

Pecularities of Bees

• Use of Pollen and nectar for nutrition• Visiting plants during foraging• Social communities

Biologie der Honigbienen

Darwin’s enigma

“... I will confine myself to one special difficultywhich at first appeared to me insuperable, and actually fatal to the whole theory (of evolution). I allude to the neuters or sterile females in insectcommunities”

C. Darwin, 1859

How can sterile females be explainedwithin the framework of an evolutionarytheory based on survival of the fittest?

In other words:

Social Community and Evolution

Darwin’s enigma

C. Darwin, 1859

“This difficulty (of sterile workers), thoughappearing insuperable, is lessened, or, as I believe, disappears, when it is remembered that selectionmay be applied to the family, as well as to theindividual, and may thus gain the desired end”

„Social Evolution“

SolitaryEusocial

CommunalSemisocial

Eusocial Bees

• Overlap of generations• Division of labor• Occurrence of castes (reproductive and worker castes)

Scaptotrigona spec. in Brazil

Stingless bees in Africa, South Americaand Australia

Eusocial Bees

Honey bees in Africa and Asia

Apis mellifera in Ethiopia

Social organization of a Honeybee colony

Males: Drones derived from unfertilized eggs. Only task: mating with the queen.

Female castes: Queen and workersfertilized eggs, genetically identical

Original and today's distribution of eusocial bees

Honey bees

Honey bees& Stingless bees

Stingless bees

Stingless bees

Economic value of bees

Products provided by Bees• Honey• Wax• Pollen• Propolis• Royal Jelly• Bee venom• Pollination

Economic value of bees

Products provided by Bees• Honey• Wax• Pollen• Propolis• Royal Jelly• Bee venom• Pollination

Economic value of bees

Products provided by Bees• Honey ! Honey bees, stingless bees• Wax ! Honey bees • Pollen ! Honey bees • Propolis ! Honey bees • Royal Jelly ! Honey bees • Bee venom ! Honey bees • Pollination ! Honey bees, stingless bees, solitary bees

Pollination

All Bees use pollen as the exclusive source of protein

! All Bees are Pollinators!

Pollination

Bees are the most effective pollinators among the insects. They perform about 50% of insect pollination.The economic value for the US is calculated with 40 - 50 Billion US$ (Morse 2001)!

antherstigma

Pollination

• Great challenge for most intensive agricultural systems• Use of many bee species (including solitary bees and

bumble bees)• Preservation of Nature

Agricultural BiodiversityInternational Initiative for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Pollinators http://www.biodiv.org/programmes/areas/agro/pollinators.asp

Pollination

Private pollination service:Pollination of greenhouses

Problem: Pollination of legumes in North India! “Agricultural Revolution” without pollination doesn't work!

Pollination with Bumble bees

Tomatoes and other crops in glass houses

Pollination with solitary bees

Alfalfa leaf cutting bee (Megachile rotundata)

Pollination

Pollination Project at Jordan (Strawberry)

Pollination

Knowledge required!Pollination of Passion fruits by Carpenter Bees

Beekeeping with stingless bees

Genus Melipona and Trigona

Advantages• Harmonious relationship between man and indigenous bees• Including in Indian culture, for instance the Maya at Yucatan or the

Yanomani at Amazonia• Provision of pollen and honey for private use• High prices• Medical use?Disadvantages• Relatively low honey yields (1 – max. 10 kg/colony/year)• Handling difficult, difficult for professional use• Lack of knowledge on domestication and techniques of “Meliponiculture“

Honey Bee beekeeping(Apis spec.)

Production of Honey and Bees Wax

Honey bee species of the world(Honey bee = Apis)

Apis mellifera *(Europe, Africa, Asia Minor)Apis cerana * (Asia)Apis koschevnikovi (Asia)Apis nicrocincta (Asia)Apis dorsata *(Asia)Apis laboriosa * (Asia)Apis florea (Asia)Apis andreniformis (Asia)* economic importance

hive bees

free buildingsingle combs

Asia: Apis dorsata, Apis cerana, Apis melliferaAfrica: Apis mellifera: „African bee“, the „Cape honey bee“South America: Apis mellifera: „Africanized Honeybees (AHB)“

Tropical beekeeping

Specific traits oftropical honey bees

Specific traits of tropical honey bees

1. High reproductive rates 2. Swarming and absconding3. Defensive behavior4. No winter cluster (population dynamic)

High reproductive rate:Example of Africanized Honeybees

Spread of Africanized honeybees in South America

Swarming and absconding

Africanized honeybees in Brazil: By the use of swarm boxes the beekeeper can reach an equilibrium of loss and gain of swarms. Swarm boxes are also used to prevent establishing of swarms within cities.

Swarming and absconding

Africanized honeybees in Brazil: Extreme swarming and absconding tendency

Swarming and absconding

An Apis cerana colony in Thailand absconded from a log hive because of disturbance by experiments

Defensive behavior

Defensive behavior

African bees and Africanized honeybees (Brazil):• Lower threshold for defense behavior (a result of honey hunting in the

tropics by man?)• Long-lasting attacks (even several hours after disturbing the colony!)• Attacks over a range of several hundreds meters around the hive• Disturbed bees follow the beekeeper up to 2 km

Defensive behavior

Africanized honeybees in Brazil: Intensive use of smoke, long-lasting defensive behavior of the bees of a disturbed colony

Defensive behavior

Africanized honeybees in Brazil: Single colonies to prevent mutual disturbance and the use of “poor” food sources

Specific foraging strategy of African bees

Foraging at night (Apis melliera adansoni in Togo)

Population dynamic

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No. of bees/ broodcells

BeesBrood cells

Schwäbische Alb 2001

Worker bees

Brood cells

Seasonal course of colony development in temperate climates

Population dynamic

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Seasonal course of colony development in tropical climates (Uruguay)

Winter cluster

Honey hunting

Honey hunting

Apis dorsata (giant honey bee) in India

Honey hunting

Natural nesting site of a honeybee colony(Togo, West Africa) ! Honey hunting

Honey hunting

Uganda: log hives

Honey hunting

Traditional hivesEthiopia: Baskets as a bee hive and a “Honey bee tree”

Requirements for more advanced Tropical Beekeeping

1. Suitable Bee hives2. Protected area for the apiary 3. Protection clothes: Gloves, Boots, masks, Smoker4. Devices for honey extraction and processing5. Possibilities for honey storage6. Knowledge

Types of bee hives

Uganda: Top bar hive (moveable frames)

Traditional hives: Hanging or installing on a stand?

Advantages 1. It is easier to place the hive on the stand and remove it.2. It is easy to move both hive and stand to another spot.3. The beehive does not swing about even if the beekeeper is

working.4. Honey collection and brood-nest control can easily be carried out.

Disadvantages1. Grazing animals can knock the hive over.2. The legs of the stand can easily be used by lizards to reach the hive

unless they are protected by lizard guards.3. It is more expensive and tedious to make a reliable stand than to

buy a metallic wire for hanging a hive.4. Easy movement facilitates easy stealing.

Types of bee hives

South Africa: Top bar hive

Honey production with theeastern honey bee Apis cerana

Apis cerana in India and extraction of a small honey harvest

Modern Hives

Moveable and stable frames

Modern Hives

Research project in Ethiopia: The use of modern Polyurethane Standard hives.

Modern Hives

Research project in Ethiopia: In the field a protection against ants and lizards are required.

Honey harvesting

• Tropical bees “don´t like” honey harvest • Isolated apiary recommended• To much smoke influences honey quality• Harvesting at night• - bees are disorientated (less stings)• - additional lamp is required• Problems with robbering of bees from

other colonies

Honey harvesting

Honey extraction from top bars:Pressing of honey combs or use of special netshttp://www.beesfordevelopment.org

South AfricaA.m. scutellata

“European method”

Honey harvestingMethod for small scale beekeeping

1. The beekeeper brings with him to the site an empty hive and a container with a lid for carrying the harvested honey.2. He smokes the hive heavily from the outside to force the "security guards" and any other bees of the colony who are waiting outside the hive to return to it. It is important to continue smoking until the bees have lost all their aggressivity.3. The hive is then carried away from the site, in the direction opposite to the flight runway, and placed on a platform (or on the ground) at least 50 meters from the nearest hive in the apiary. The empty hive is left at the hive site to serve as a temporary home for any returning foragers or for any bees that escape from the moved hive.4. Working as quickly as possible in order to avoid robber bees, which can otherwise cause trouble, the beekeeper carries out his harvesting or control operations in the normal manner.5. When the work is completed, the hive is closed and carried back to its original position, and the empty hive is removed. Any bees in it, or members of the colony waiting outside, will then rejoin the hive.

Many specific techniques and “tricks” are available

! long term experience and learning from generation to

generation is required

Specific problemsof tropical Beekeeping

The Cape bee problem

• The Cape honey bee (Apis mellifera capensis) is able to perform thelytokous parthenogenesis

• Capensis workers invade as pseudo queens neighboring colonies, especially when introduced to the territory of Apismellifera scutellata and vice versa

• Meanwhile, a clone of parasitic Capensis bees create huge problems for beekeeping in South Africa

The Cape bee problem

Cape bee intruder (Apis mellifera capensis) is fed by a worker of Apis mellifera scutellata (photos: F. Ratnieks)

Cape bee (Apis mellifera capensis) removing an egg from a host colony of Apis mellifera scutellata

Plant protection

Risk of residues and poisoning of foraging bees

Honeybee diseases

Varroosis (Varroa destructor):Parasitic mite, sucks hemolymph from adult bees and brood stages, vector for secondary infections (Viruses).Most tropical bees are tolerant toward Varroosis!

Honeybee diseases

American Foulbrood (Paenibacillus larvae larvae):Bacteria, destroys brood cells shortly after cell capping, in Europe considered as epidemic, not present in central Africa and Brazil, distributed via spores dead larvae and honey (spores are very resistant)

Honeybee diseases

Small hive beetle (Aethina tumida) in South AfricaIn Africa a minor problemMeanwhile also in USA and Australia ! destroys weak colonies and storage combs

Chemical treatment of bee diseases

Varroa control with pyrethroids in Uruguay

Foulbrood control by antibioticfood supply in Thailand

Honey: Quality control

Residue analysis:• Pesticides from plant protection• Acaricides (treatment against Varroosis)• Antibiotics (treatment against foulbrood)!! “Zero tolerance” for residue of Antibiotics in honey in the EU!

Economic aspects

World Honey market

World Honey production in 1.000 tons

1991 1995 1999 200 2001

Africa 109 138 141 144 145

Asia 334 365 435 457 465

China 236 252 256

South America 87 105 133 141 131

Central America 222 183 201 208 205

North America 222 183 201 208 205

Europe 180 319 293 286 288

Germany ~ 25

Source: www.beekeeping.com

World Honey prices per kg (2003)

In bulk: ~1.00 US$ (China) - ~2.00 US$ (America)Retail: 1.50 - 4.00 US$ (Germany: 3,00 - 8,00 US$)

Honey

Local honey marketin Ethiopia

Value for human nutrition:•Source for carbohydrates • Traditional harvesting and “extraction”:

contains pollen, brood, beeswax and honey! Protein, minerals, vitamins (and some alcohol)

Honey market

Local honey market in Thailand

Problem:Quality standard required for access to the regional and global honey market

Honey market

Professional honey marketing in Ethiopia

Honey: Quality control

Pollen analysis: Sort and origin ! DeclarationEuropean (German) “Honigverordnung”

Honey: Quality control

Chemical/ physical analysis:• Sediment• Taste• Water content (< 20%!)• Enzymes (Invertase, Diastase)• pH, electric conductivity, amino acids

Honey market

• Honey has an excellent position on the local market and, depending on the quality, on the regional or global market

• Organic production offers additional possibilities: • Tropical bees are more resistant to diseases, therefore,

chemical treatments are not necessary and residue free honey (and beeswax!) can more easily been produced as in temperate climates,

• The production and marketing of honey offers an additional income, therefore, beekeeping contribute to rural development

Problems:• Access to regional and global market• Knowledge about beekeeping (beekeeping tradition is very

important!)• Investment for the start of beekeeping• Honey quality• Storage of honey

Additional bee products

Pollen trap Beeswax factory in Thailand(Increasing market for organic beeswax in Europe!)

Cooperation is essential!

• Courses for beginners and extension work• Construction of hives• Making of protection clothes• Providing of extraction devices • Bee products:

- Private use/ Local market- Regional market ! quality control

Cooperation project at Uganda as an example

SummaryEconomics of tropical Beekeeping

and rural developmentChances• Honey is a high price product in all countries• Enormous resources in tropical countries are available• Honey can be stored over long periods• Beekeeping does not require own land• Beekeeper and Bee products are highly respected• Alternative bee products ! Medical use• Beekeeping offers additional income (Rural development,

gender aspects)Problems• Knowledge and tradition of stakeholder• Start investment (bee hives, protection clothes, honey harvest)• Extension needed• Quality control of Honey Bee Products• Access to the market